547: Doubts abound

He shook his head, no longer thinking about it. If Zhong Qi appeared at the Municipal Bureau, then everything would be easy to explain, but if he didn't appear, it would prove that he was 100% Su Yue! Zhong Qi, Gao Xiang, Cui Jia... their relationship was also the best.

"Speaking of which... wasn't it Cui Jia who initially arranged for Gao Xiang and Zhong Qi to be in the same apartment?" he murmured to himself, "When was he swapped? Living in the same apartment as Zhu Xiao, why did he suddenly... it doesn't make sense..."

A Qi took a deep breath, his mind a muddle at this moment.

The most suitable person could very well be the least suitable person...

Reverse thinking is a must...

Is it completely impossible for Zhong Qi to be Su Yue?

As he thought this, his heart was filled with conflict.

However, the Officer Si who had just rushed downstairs quickly came back up. He looked at A Qi and said, "Qi Team... we found Zhong Qi. I saw him as soon as I got downstairs. He's waiting with the other newcomers in the lobby on the first floor right now."

A Qi heard this and nodded, thinking to himself, "Zhong Qi really came. This means that a large part of the suspicion on Zhong Qi has been cleared. Once the test later passes, his suspicion will be almost zero."

But as he thought this, he saw a hesitant look on Officer Si's face.

Seeing his expression, A Qi immediately asked again, "Just say whatever you have to say."

Officer Si then said, "Well... actually, it's nothing much... it's just that when I saw Zhong Qi, he seemed to be about to leave. He seemed to want to go outside."

Hearing this, the certainty A Qi had just felt was once again extinguished.

Suspicion rose again: "About to go out?"

He frowned but didn't say much, just nodded and said, "I understand."

Then he asked another question, "Is everyone here?"

Officer Si replied, "Song Team is over there sorting the list, it should be about everyone."

A Qi nodded again, then said, "Take us down?"

Hearing this, Officer Si smiled awkwardly and said, "Let's go down together."

...

At this moment, Zhong Qi was chatting with a newcomer named Jianming.

He had been at the Municipal Bureau for a while and still had a few colleagues he could call by name.

Zhong Qi asked, "Jianming, do you know what this is for?"

The newcomer shook his head and said, "I don't know, an emergency assembly, and I see they're all newcomers... To be honest, Zhong Qi, I can't even call most of them by name here."

Zhong Qi also gave a wry smile, nodding empathetically, "Me neither..."

The newcomer Jianming looked at Zhong Qi's expression and felt that Zhong Qi's face was somewhat unpredictable, as if he was preoccupied with something.

But he didn't think much of it, because dense footsteps were approaching, indicating that the main event was about to begin.

A group of people came down from upstairs, led by A Qi and members of the Special Task Force.

Su Yue noticed that Gao Xiang and Cui Jia both had bad complexions, especially Cui Jia, who even had handcuffs on his wrists.

Seeing this, Song Team stepped forward and said to A Qi, "Everyone who's been here since October 15th is here."

He lowered his voice and asked, "Are you sure Su Yue is among them? If it's really him, would he come?"

A Qi didn't answer directly, just said something inexplicable, "Why don't you go ask Su Yue what he wants to do?"

Song Team, however, understood A Qi's meaning.

Su Yue's thinking could not be measured by common sense; only by knowing his purpose could they determine if he was among these newcomers.

But what they were least clear about was Su Yue's purpose.

Song Team stopped asking questions and instead suggested, "Should I help you prepare some towels and basins?"

A Qi shook his head, "No need. If Su Yue is really here, he will definitely be fully prepared. There's no point in using this method to identify him."

Song Team's eyes widened, "Then you...?"

A Qi didn't answer, his gaze fixed on Su Yue, his heart filled with doubt.

He wanted to know why Su Yue, if he was coming, would leave the entrance again? Why would his phone be turned off? Why couldn't his colleagues find him when they looked for him, yet he appeared at the entrance? Logically, they should have been on the same path.

A Qi secretly pondered, "Is he... really Su Yue?"

At this moment, Song Team was getting a little impatient, "Qi Team, what exactly are you going to do?"

A Qi didn't answer but called another Officer Si and quietly instructed him to check Zhong Qi's surveillance footage to see what he had done.

A Qi glanced at Gao Xiang and Cui Jia again. Their expressions seemed normal, as if they weren't worried about the current situation.

A Qi's mood was very complicated. He both hoped to find Su Yue among these newcomers and didn't want the Special Task Force to fall apart like this.

But currently, this was his task.

Everything Gao Xiang and Cui Jia said was just speculation, without substantive evidence.

If Su Yue was really among these newcomers, it would be easy to explain; but if not, then it would be troublesome. A Qi could only hope that Gao Xiang and Cui Jia wouldn't blame him then.

Everyone stood in the lobby, waiting for A Qi's next instruction.

But he stood there motionless. At this point, Gao Xiang and Cui Jia, who had never suspected Zhong Qi before, also began to have doubts.

Gao Xiang looked at Zhong Qi, feeling something strange in his heart.

He thought, if he and Cui Jia were suspected of being Su Yue, and they were closest to Zhong Qi, was there something fishy going on?

It's very possible that it wasn't Cui Jia, but Zhong Qi?

He used my phone to send a message to Cui Jia and then asked him to delete it?

This would also explain why Cui Jia was at the Municipal Bureau.

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Cui Jia had the same thought in his heart. But they didn't say it out loud, because they knew very well what a blow such suspicion would be to someone who wasn't a criminal.

At the same time, they had not given up on suspecting each other.

Although Zhong Qi also had suspicious points, in their eyes, the biggest suspects were still each other.

A Qi stood there, like a statue cast in iron, stern and ruthless.

But he knew he wasn't feeling well either.

Cui Jia was his friend, and Gao Xiang was a junior he thought highly of.

Everything that was happening now was traumatizing them all.

But A Qi believed he was strong enough to bear it.

For the ultimate goal, as long as they could catch Su Yue, everything would be fine! So he couldn't let go of any suspicious point!

At this moment, the Officer Si who had gone to check the surveillance footage quickly returned and reported the situation to A Qi.

After listening, A Qi nodded, walked up to Zhong Qi, looked him directly in the eye, and asked, "I heard you were originally planning to leave when you arrived? Why?"

Zhong Qi explained, "Because I didn't know what was going on inside and wanted to call and ask, but my phone was dead."

A Qi frowned. He had been thinking about this question when he went downstairs: Why would Zhong Qi leave the entrance after arriving? The answer Zhong Qi gave was reasonable, but A Qi didn't easily believe what he said.

"What else did you do before that?" A Qi continued to ask.

Zhong Qi was stunned for a moment, looking at A Qi with a strange look in his eyes.

It was as if he was wondering why A Qi was interrogating him like a criminal.

But he didn't pause and said directly, "After work, I went back to my apartment first, and then came out to eat. After eating, I saw someone going in here, so I came to see. What's wrong? What happened?"

Hearing this, A Qi didn't answer but continued to ask, "Why go back to the apartment?"

Zhong Qi replied, "It's a habit to go back to the apartment first. I didn't know what Gao Xiang was doing, so I planned to wait and eat together. This has been the habit for these past few days, Gao Xiang can testify. But Qi Team, if I made a mistake, you can just say so directly. Asking like this... is really unnecessary."

Zhong Qi's words made A Qi pause, and the others present also looked over.

A Qi looked back at Gao Xiang. Although Gao Xiang didn't respond to him, he didn't refute either.

Since that was the case, it was true... However, the information just obtained from the surveillance was actually even more suspicious.

A Qi frowned tightly and continued to ask, "Where did you go after leaving the archives department?"

A Qi's question made Zhong Qi frown. He glanced unexpectedly at the Officer Si who had just returned, took a deep breath, and looked at A Qi, saying, "After I left the archives department, I went to the printing room. There's no copier in the office, and I didn't think this kind of thing needed to be reported."

"After printing the documents, I went back to the office and stayed there until I got off work. Is there a problem with that?"

A Qi's suspicion lay in the period Zhong Qi was missing from the surveillance footage, during which he had the opportunity to call a pre-arranged location. But Zhong Qi's whereabouts seemed explainable, and he seemed unaware of the phone call, instead revealing his entire movements.

It seems Zhong Qi is indeed fine, A Qi thought, but he still looked directly at Zhong Qi and asked again, "When did you separate from Cui Jia? What did he do afterward?"

Cui Jia's expression changed, looking at A Qi unhappily. Zhong Qi thought for a moment and said, "After we separated at the archives department, I haven't seen Senior Lu until now."

Gao Xiang listened to Zhong Qi's description, frowned, and analyzed Zhong Qi's identity in his heart. He thought, according to the timeline, when he went to the archives room to look for Cui Jia and Zhong Qi, he didn't see either of them. Later, he went to the printing room to look, but still didn't find them. So who was lying?

If Zhong Qi was telling the truth and went straight back to the office after printing, then Gao Xiang should have seen him on the way. This means that he wasn't actually in the printing room at that time?

Gao Xiang glanced at Cui Jia and saw that his complexion was also not good.

Then, Gao Xiang thought of something and said directly, "When I went to look for you, you weren't in the printing room. From the timing, you should have been in the printing room printing at that time, right? So where were you at that time?"

Hearing this, everyone's eyes focused on Zhong Qi, especially the members of the Special Task Force. If that was the case, then Zhong Qi was indeed the most likely person to have called the TV station! From both time and space, he was the most suitable one!

However, Gao Xiang, who had just said this, frowned, because A Qi's reaction was a little off. But he couldn't figure out what the problem was for a moment.

At this moment, Zhong Qi's voice came over, "Where was I? No one came to look for me." He paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and continued, "Then I must have gone to the bathroom. There was a period in between when I did go to the bathroom. You should have seen a stack of documents next to the printer, if you really went."

Hearing this, Gao Xiang suddenly realized why A Qi's behavior was off. After A Qi heard his analysis of such suspicious words, he didn't say much, just looked at Zhong Qi indifferently. This meant that he already knew this point. In other words, in what that Officer Si had just told A Qi, the surveillance footage indeed showed this process.

Just as Gao Xiang was stunned and thinking, Song Team's voice broke his thoughts, "Did you see a stack of documents?" Gao Xiang nodded and said, "Yes."

A Qi did know that Zhong Qi had been to the bathroom, and he also knew that during this questioning process, this matter was indeed easy to overlook.

This shows that Zhong Qi didn't keep the matter of going to the toilet to himself.

In other words, from the perspective of time, Zhong Qi had no time to make that phone call at all.

"Qi Team, do you have anything else to ask?" Zhong Qi's words made A Qi shake his head.

Although there was indeed nothing left to ask, A Qi's suspicion of Zhong Qi did not decrease; instead, he felt even more that something was wrong.

His doubts were answered one by one, but some clues were still unclear.

He frowned, looking at Zhong Qi, wanting to find other suspicious points about him.

"Where is the problem?" he asked himself, but for a moment, his mind couldn't think of any other points to corroborate.

Just at this moment, Song Team walked up to A Qi.

"Qi Team, don't tell me you're going to investigate them one by one like this? What time is it now? I think we should hurry up!"

A Qi hummed in agreement, temporarily burying the doubts in his heart, and then said, "Since we can't distinguish who it is by looking, we'll use fingerprints. The household registration department is on the first floor, and fingerprints are an unchangeable ID on everyone."

Song Team heard this and nodded, immediately sending someone to handle it without any hesitation.

But at this moment, A Qi looked at Gao Xiang and Cui Jia again and found that there were no extra emotions on their faces. Their expressions were as usual, as if they were not worried about the fingerprint test.

A Qi's gaze lingered on Cui Jia's face for a little longer.

Although Cui Jia and Gao Xiang pointed the finger at each other, in A Qi's eyes, Cui Jia was ultimately the more suspicious one.

After all, the fact that he was at the Municipal Bureau, coupled with Zhong Qi also being suspicious now...

After all, the person closest to these two during this period was Zhong Qi.

Su Yue's purpose is unknown, but according to the so-called 'luring the tiger out of the mountain' plan, he ultimately has to appear at the Municipal Bureau.

Moreover, after Zhong Qi and Cui Jia separated at the archives department, what were Cui Jia's movements?

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